Chivalry
by Wakingupto42
Summary: Hangovers. Fluff.


**Chivalry**

Pairing: D/G if it pleases you.

Description: _Silly little thing about hangovers I drummed up as I approach the end of first year of nursing school. Vignette to get the creatives flowing to work on Time Scar this summer break._

The first thing she noticed was the tacky, rough slide of her dehydrated tongue moving past the roof of her mouth. It numbly caught along the grooves of her teeth. TJ Davenport pushed her face further into the pillow and then groaned miserably on catching a brief backwash of her own breath. A dull throb began just beyond her eyes. She did not dare open them yet.

'I'm hungover,' she thought with pity. She could not remember the last time she felt this bad.

Just creeping through the hot rush of her sour breath was another scent. It was earthy, dense, with a hint of sweat. Oddly, she found it comforting and latched onto it. It made her feel warmer and she nuzzled her face deeper into its safety, the pillow enveloping her head willingly; like a good comforting hug. Davenport cycled her legs until the blankets were pushed beyond her, allowing the air to cool the skin of her exposed lower extremities.

A contented sigh escaped her lips.

It was at that moment she heard him clear his throat nervously. TJ sat straight upright, eyes now wide open, all senses on high alert. The first thing she realized was that this was not her hotel room. The second thing she noticed was Commander Seth Goddard. He sat across the small hotel room at the provided desk with a compupad before him. A lamp was on and set to the lowest setting. Though his hair was clearly still damp from shower, he was fully dressed and awake – and smug, very smug.

"Morning," his mouth tugged on the right side – a sure sign he was attempting to contain a smile.

"Wh-" Davenport started and stopped. The minor pressure behind her eyes began to increase, spreading towards her temples, as she began to more clearly take in her current environment.

The clock read 0600 but the room was mostly still in shadow. A soft glow came from the bathroom area and she could distantly hear the hum of the vent fan. The window screen was blessedly left closed, blocking the renowned and bright double sunrises that the planet was known for.

The Christa had landed on the beautiful planet of Chrysandaliss yesterday morning; everyone excited for a few short days of shore leave. Davenport vaguely remembered enjoying herself along the beach front city they had chosen for the better part of the day – mani/pedi, sunbathing, historical sites, and then setting out to experience the night life on persistent request from Rosie and Suzie – who were now well within most planetary age range to experience evening drinks and revelry. She remembered the themed beach side bar and the overwhelming selection of beverages. She remembered asking the bar tender, a handsome young man in a grass skirt, for the local preference.

Her eyes squeezed shut again, "Gargleblaster..." She groaned aloud. Davenport remembered the first sip; like being hit over the head with a brick wrapped in a lemon. After that, her memory became foggy.

"Wouldn't have been my first choice," came the flat response from across her. Goddard had placed the compupad down in front of him, eyes locked on her face in a very determined manner.

His gaze was strong enough that TJ felt she had to avert her own. Her eyes moved to the left and centered in on a small pile of what appeared to be dark navy fabric. 'Oh my-' TJ thought, panicking, for surely enough as her eyes adjusted further to the lighting in the room, the unnamed fabric clearly became her dress from the evening prior. Finally, she noticed the cool room air on the rest of her skin – the only garments still on her being bra and matching bottoms.

A blush rushed from her cheeks to her toes as she quickly pulled the bed sheet back up to her shoulders. Wide eyed she looked back at Goddard, who had not moved from his seat, nor had he moved his gaze from her face. 'This is his room,' TJ finally acknowledged. She knew he could see the gloss that began to film over her eyes, the beginning of tears stinging the corners.

"I don't remember anything..." she started, once again stopping, this time to control the worry in her voice.

Seth Goddard stood from the table and slowly approached the bed as he did saying, " You, um, aren't really a heavy drinker are you?"

Davenport shook her head tightening her grip on the sheet.

"Let's just say, the students aren't going to let you live last night down for a very long time to come." He stopped at the end of the bed and assumed an 'at ease' standing position.

"What did I do?" her voice wavered despite her attempt at control.

Goddard took a deep breath and continued, "Well, after one drink you proceeded to make quite a scene, or so the girl's tell me. They didn't get into specifics, so you will have to ask them yourself. At about 0200 they contacted me to come down to the hotel entryway, where you had stopped and apparently refused to go any further." He paused here and turned, making his way around the foot of the bed to the side with the night stand. Davenport involuntarily shifted herself toward his movements, trying to take in his words and match them with memory.

"You then proceeded to refuse to return to your room. I guess you lost your key card in a bet while out and about. I have all the duplicate room keys and so I helped you upstairs. When I opened the door you welcomed yourself in here." He stopped next to her. TJ looked up at him, and though she knew he did not mean to be, she felt a bit intimidated as he looked down on her – this time unable to conceal his smug smile.

The drink, the clothes, the lack of clothes – Davenport's heart sank, "We-"

Finally, Goddard's full smile broke across his features, it was genuine and TJ found her muscles relaxing.

"Don't worry. Despite what you may believe, TJ. Chivalry isn't dead."

Davenport let out a sigh of relief, "Oh. You mean we didn't-"

"Your dignity remains mostly intact."

She tensed again, "Mostly?"

This time it was Goddard that looked a bit nervous as he muttered, "You did catch me off guard once."

Davenport raised an eyebrow. Goddard turned his head away from her as if distracted by something else in the far corner of the room. It was exactly where his jaw line and neck converged over his carotid artery. The skin there was a dark purple and pulsed with his heart beat. Davenport had the sudden sensation of the earlier earthy and dense smell fill her nose. A hint of salt on her tongue made her mouth salivate briefly. _Her mouth bruised flesh – sharp inhale of surprise – graze of teeth – his fingers gripping her upper arms tightly – his pulse beneath her tongue – hot, rapid breaths pushing against her ear and a low moan that may have turned into a whimper of frustration..._

The sound of a water bottle being heavily placed on the night stand next to her snapped the fog away once more. He was looking straight at her again, this time, with out the smile. Out of his back pocket he pulled a small square wrapper and placed it next to the water bottle. Her full blush was prominent again.

"Electrolyte capsules. Take those with the full bottle of water. Check out is at 1200 hours. Christa leaves at 1300. Your spare key is on the desk."

He turned away from her and walked back to the desk, grabbing the compupad. Before he could open the door she called out, "Seth..."

He stopped and looked back at her. Davenport noted the couch behind him in the small entryway to the room. On it, folded neatly were two blankets and the extra set of pillows that were missing from the other side of the bed.

"Thank you," was all she could muster.

Goddard smiled again, nodded, and left the room.

TJ Davenport toppled backwards in the bed once more and threw the covers over her head. She felt herself relaxing. There was still a few hours before she truly needed to get up. With her modesty still partially intact, she buried her reddened face into the pillow again. His scent warmly invited her back and TJ distantly realized that he had left with no attempt at all to disguise the mark she had emblazoned on his neck. Davenport groaned with embarrassment one more time and nestled further into the pillow.

The rest of her morning was spend contemplating chivalry.


End file.
